Wandsworth Common windmill, London

Wandsworth Common windmill is less than 500 m (430 m) from where I grew up as a child. I used to go to Wandsworth Common so often, to play and for dog walking. But I didn't know the windmill was there. One reason is because Wandsworth Common is actually divided into separate areas by two different railway lines. So the majority of my childhood visits were confined to the east side and the mill is located on the edge of the opposite side, over both railway lines. 

Wandsworth Common windmill was actually used as a water pump, not for milling grain, so should be called a windpump. It was a smock mill, built in the 1830s and situated right above the railway line. It is hexagonal with weatherboarded sides. It was constructed by the London and South Western Railway Company to pump water from the cutting into a nearby lake, known as the Black Sea. William Wilson, founder of the Prices Patent Candle Company created a garden around the lake as part of his estate.

The windmill stopped working in 1870 when the lake was filled in. The sails and fantail were removed.

A road runs right in front of the windmill. View from the side, the cap has been reconstructed -

The whole of Wandsworth Common

And the location of the mill -

Just over the nearby bridge is the rather impressive Royal Victoria Patriotic Building. This Victorian building is in a Gothic Revival style combining Scottish Baronial and French Châteauesque. It was built in 1859 as the Royal Victoria Patriotic School, by popular subscription as an asylum for girls orphaned during the Crimean War. Now it is a mixed community of flats, studios, workshops and a drama school.

And I have 2 boxes of Price's candles, my mother bought them decades ago! Probably from the early 1970s when the power cuts were happening.

Price's candle factory building is still there at 100 York Rd, which is at the very top left of the first map above. When production of candles etc stopped, the place was used as a retail shop, but is now closed.

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See Wikipedia page about the windmill. And Historic England entry.

Arkley - Barnet Gate windmill, London

There are a few windmills left in London, and I keep discovering ones new to me. There are 4 windmills that are sometimes open to the public, see my introduction on windmills. There are also several more that are private. I discovered one of those last week.

In March 2021 I was on a 107 bus between Borehamwood / Elstree and High Barnet, when I saw a windmill at Arkley. As the bus sped by, I only got a glimpse but it looked in good condition, so decided to investigate further.

The Wikipedia list of London windmills.

Arkley Windmill or Barnet Gate Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill. It is at Barnet Gate, which used to be in Hertfordshire, but is now in the London Borough of Barnet. It was built in 1823.

As there is no public access, it was very difficult to get a good photo, as there were tall hedges in the way. Also the 4 sails were camouflaged against the grey rainy sky.

The tower mill is 4 storey. Wikipedia has a lot more technical information. There is also some information and a lot of historical photos on Windmill World. And the listing on Historic England.

The end for some cruise ships

In Aug 2020 I did a blog about cruise ships moored along the south coast of England, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Cruising worldwide had come to an end by April 2020, BBC article "Coronavirus journey: The 'last cruise ship on Earth' finally comes home" describes how the last 3 cruise ships at sea with passengers docked on 20 April. 

And one year later, the majority of cruise lines still weren't sailing. A few were doing very limited routes. Some cruise lines collapsed, including my favourite, the British company Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV). The CMV ships were old but had character and most importantly for me, were small, meaning less passengers. CMV went under on 20 July 2020. I had 2 cruises booked, having already transferred them from earlier ones that had been cancelled. 

At first it was hoped that the ships would be sold and continue their life as cruise ships. In Nov, the auctions of the CMV fleet was over, with five ships heading to new owners or to scrap. It seemed that at least 2 ships would go for scrap, including my favourite ship, Magellan. She was sold, but then the new owners decided to scrap her. 

Magellan left Tilbury on 11 Nov on her final voyage, to the scrapyard at Alang in India. Alang is in Gujarat state on the northwest of India. Its beaches have become currently the world's largest ship graveyard.

Purely by chance, a friend sent this link to a YouTube video, "How to Beach a Giant Ship" which shows the ferry 'Ostend Spirit' hit the beach for demolition in Aliaga Turkey. The ship is literally run aground at speed into the scrapyard. 

Then on 2 March the BBC News had an article "UK cruise ships scrapped in India's 'ship graveyard'". The article opened with an upsetting photo of Marco Polo ship, already beached at the scrapyard. The article mainly focused on the environmental concerns of scrapping ships and the hazards found in the ship graveyards. BBC also did a feature on Radio 4.

30 Jan 2021, from CMV friends facebook page -

I still don't know what has happened to the ship Columbus, as far as I know she has been sold for scrap. This article of 9 Feb suggests she is going for scrap, "Columbus Is the Next Cruise Ship Most Likely To Be Scrapped". She left Tilbury on 18 Nov 2020, having been there for 218 days. Whereas Magellan left Tilbury quietly, Columbus departed fully lit and gave three long blasts. She is currently (6 March) south of Oman and heading for the west coast of India. 

Magellan in 2019 -

and repainted by 2020  -

Snow moon Feb 2021

 The full Snow Moon reached peak illumination around 8 am GMT on Saturday, February 27. It was daylight here, so I didn't see the moon - I only saw it as it rose on Sunday evening, 28th. It is named snow moon from the snow on the ground - the snow in London was a couple of weeks earlier!

When the moon rose on the 28th I managed to catch it as it came up by some cranes.

And 1st March -